To strengthen Europe’s autonomy, competitiveness, and sustainability, there is a growing need for cost-efficient, safe, and sustainable batteries that can be rapidly deployed into mobility systems. At the same time, Europe’s battery ambitions are hindered by four key challenges: limited access to critical raw materials, high costs, fragmented / non-European supply chains, and long development timelines.
Bridging research and end users
The EU-funded project OLiMPUS builds on knowledge from previous battery research and aims to address these challenges. The project will develop new lithium-ion LMFP||graphite battery cells that are cost-effective, safe, and sustainable, and that can be efficiently produced using European materials.
The consortium consists of eight research organizations and eight leading industrial partners, well covering the European battery value chain. The involvement of end users such as Volvo Trucks, Corvus, and Magna Steyr, as well as one of Europe’s leading cell manufacturers, Verkor, ensures relevance across multiple transport segments and supports faster industrialization.
“By combining world-class research with pilot production, industrial scale-up, and system integration, the OLiMPUS partners will deliver scalable LMFP||graphite batteries for road and maritime transport”, says Ingeborg Kaus, project coordinator at SINTEF.
Sustainable materials and production processes
The new batteries combine high performance and long lifetime with competitiveness, safety, and sustainability, and are based on lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) as the cathode material and graphite as the anode material. Adding manganese to lithium iron phosphate (LFP) increases the energy density and the voltage, while retaining the safety, thermal stability and cost advantages. The cathode material will be supplied by Integrals Power. The graphite will be delivered by Vianode and manufactured from raw materials and processes that result in substantial emission reductions.
The production process will be both safe and sustainable. Electrodes will be manufactured using two methods: a water-based process without the toxic organic solvent NMP, and a quasi-dry process that reduces the need for energy-intensive drying steps. Both methods are more environmentally friendly and contribute to lower costs. The project will also explore the use of ionic liquids in electrolytes to reduce fire risk.
Machine learning and digital tools enhance development and lifetime
The development of materials, electrode design, and manufacturing processes will take place in parallel, following a “design-to-cost” and “safe-and-sustainable-by-design” (SSbD) approach. This will be supported by digital tools, advanced characterization, sensor data, and AI models, enabling faster development, early identification of degradation mechanisms, and improved lifetime performance.
In addition to coordinating the project, SINTEF will work on slurry processing, manufacturing of cells and the development of digital tools. Together with DLR, SINTEF will also use machine learning to improve modelling of battery cells and their lifetime. This will support optimization of design, operation, monitoring, and diagnostics, enabling more accurate and data-efficient predictions. The models will also be explainable and generalizable, reducing risks when implemented in industrial systems.
From pilot production to industrial scale-up
Over the course of the project, OLiMPUS aims to produce a total of 132 automotive-grade cells in pouch and prismatic formats, with capacities ranging from 10–80 Ah. Through three pilot lines, the project will demonstrate production readiness, robustness, and compatibility with European manufacturing facilities.
By 2032, the project aims to enable mass production of the new materials, cells, battery packs, and EV systems in Europe. It also aims to strengthen European battery value chains and reduce CO₂ emissions by approximately 1.8 million tons of CO₂ equivalents by 2050.
